[1] Nehemiah Cushing was serving as a captain in the Massachusetts Militia during the French and Indian War when he died at Crown Point, New York.

[3][4] Cushing was raised and educated in Pembroke, then supported the Patriot side in the American Revolution by joining the Continental Army.

The court first met on April 26, 1811, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was presided over by Colonel Alexander Smyth, with Winfield Scott appointed as the judge advocate (prosecutor).

He was then assigned as commander of Military District Number 1 (consisting of the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire) with his headquarters at Boston.

In 1817, Cushing fought a duel with Virginia congressman William J. Lewis and was saved when the bullet struck his watch.

He was originally buried in the Second Burial Ground in New London but his remains were later relocated to the Cedar Grove Cemetery in the same city.